A rash of Australian innovations may lead to cleaner, more efficient
transport. A company linked to CSIRO is promoting a radical design for a
petrol-electric car which it claims can cut pollution by about 90 per cent. And
two separate research groups are working on electric motors which could
revolutionise two-wheel transport.
At a recent conference in Canberra, CSIRO鈥檚 Australian Automotive Technology
Centre (AATC) introduced a design for an efficient hybrid car that uses about
half the fuel of a typical vehicle, as well as dramatically reducing the
emission of pollutants. The hybrid car, which will be promoted by the
government-owned company, aXcessaustralia, uses an electric traction motor
similar to trains. Its small petrol engine works mainly to store energy in new
generation, low-cost, long-life, lead-acid batteries. The storage capacity of
the batteries is supplemented by a special capacitor, which provides the extra
energy when the driver needs to accelerate.
While electric cars are already on the market overseas, and more efficient
hybrid cars have been demonstrated in Australia, none looks as cost-effective as
the new design. AATC director David Lamb estimates that it will add only about
$1000 to the selling price of a $20 000 sedan. 鈥淏ut you will save
that much in fuel in the first year,鈥� he says. So aXcessaustralia believes it is
onto a winner. The new car will be launched in May and displayed to overseas
manufacturers later in the year.
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But such inventiveness is not confined to four wheels. At the Solar and
Electric Vehicle conference in Adelaide a couple of months back, Dean Patterson
of the University of the Northern Territory proposed producing an electric
powered bicycle using the techniques his team had developed for solar cars.
Patterson argued that many more Australians would cycle around our cities if
they could call on auxiliary power to help them up hills or to allow them to
have an easy ride on a hot day.
Now a group at the Queensland University of Technology has come up with a
proposal for an electric motorbike. Kame Khouzam and his engineering colleagues
have developed a machine propelled by a small electric motor that travels at
speeds of up to 90 kilometres an hour. It uses no petrol or oil, is silent, and
emits no pollution. Six lead-acid batteries give the bike a range of about 50
kilometres before recharging, a process which takes about two hours.
鈥淲e think there鈥檚 a market for the bike among families who want a second
vehicle to get to the shops or to work,鈥� Khouzam says. That鈥檚 good thinking,
especially so close to Asia. The new vehicle could go a long way to helping
solve the noise and pollution problems of Asian cities, where the typicaltwo-stroke motorbike makes life very uncomfortable for other road users. But I
wonder if it will need some form of artificial noise for safety reasons.
Pedestrians could well be caught by surprise by the approach of a silent
electric motorbike.
Aspirin never ceases to amaze. Originally it cured aches and pains. Then it
was found to lower the risk of heart attacks. Now a study in South Australia has
shown that it can also fight gum disease.
Arthur Drouganis and Robert Hirsch of Adelaide University鈥檚 Dental School
studied the dental health of about 400 men. They found that those over the age
of 50 who were taking small doses of aspirin daily had less gum disease than
average.
Gum disease is a significant problem in Australia. About one adult in 10
suffers from the most severe form, known as periodontitis, which leads to
deterioration of the structures holding the teeth in place, and can result in
teeth falling out.
Increased risk of gum disease is a consequence of smoking. Smokers typically
have fewer teeth than non-smokers of the same age. And the Adelaide study
confirmed that non-smokers have less gum disease than smokers.
The researchers concluded that low doses of aspirin may protect the fibres
and ligaments attaching the teeth to the gums. 鈥淥ur findings show that people
aged over 50, particularly ex-smokers and probably smokers, may reduce their
risk of deteriorating gums by taking low doses of aspirin (100mg) daily,鈥�
Drouganis says. But he warns that any such treatment should be discussed with a
medical professional.